onion valley

If you have 2-5 days (depending on your speed), you can enter north of Whitney at the Onion Valley trailhead, crossing over the famed Kearsarge area, then heading south on the John Muir Trail to Whitney. You still need a Whitney zone exit permit to walk down the main trail, but when i was exploring this a couple years back, they were still available on some dates at this time, and the rangers were very promising about getting them walk-in at Onion Valley. If you did the lottery, you have the california links to such places...i don't have them at hand. I could search them if you need them.